By Jack Granatstein After two minority governments and ten months of majority rule, we can see the outlines of the Harper government’s vision of the world. The military side of the picture is very easy to discern. Clearly, Prime Minister Harper sees the Canadian Forces (CF) as important to Canada and to his efforts to […]

Boy did the Brits ever see us coming in 1998 when the Chretien Liberals pulled up to Honest Nigel’s Used Submarine Shop looking to buy four underwater patrol boats. The quartet they sold us for the unbelievably low price of just $750 million have been up on blocks in our front yard almost ever since, with weeds growing […]

Where is Stephen Harper’s government going on foreign policy and defence? Much will depend on the economy and events in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, of course, but some directions seem clear. First, with a majority and with all three Opposition parties under temporary stewardship, the Conservatives can do just about anything they want. […]

“For Chrétien, no amount spent on defence was ever small enough“ Recent weeks have featured extensive debate about Canada’s future role in Afghanistan. Both major parties now apparently agree that our combat operations will cease in 2011, but that we will maintain a large force in the country for purposes of training the Afghan army. […]